Liberation icon Veronica Sobukwe has died

The PAC said the widow of its party founder, Robert Sobukwe, passed away in the early hours after a long illness.

“It is with great sadness that we wake up at the saddest news, we have lost one icon of the liberation, Mma Veronica Sobukwe,” said the PAC in a statement.

Sobukwe had been at the Midland Hospital in Graaff-Reinet in the Eastern Cape for three weeks. Her discharge from was hospital delayed because she could not get her medication on time after a mix-up at the in-house chemist.

In April, Mama Sobukwe, affectionately known as the “Mother of Azania”, was awarded the Order of Luthuli.

Her son Dino, who is also executive director at the Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Trust (RMST), received the award on her behalf due to her advanced age.

This year also marks the 40th commemoration of the death under banishment of her husband, the founding president of the PAC.